Misc Topics – U2, Africa, “Green” football, and more thoughts on The Dark Knight

Ok – just a few quick hit topics that have been floating around for me.

Africa’s U2 Album
Ok – this isn’t really new news, but I finally got the album, In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2.  Its been out for nearly a year now, but I finally got around to ordering it (Amazon mp3 store of course).  If you are a U2 fan, this is a must purchase.  I heard a few tracks from it via my friend Jeff and realized that it needed to be added to my U2 collection.  Its a stunning series of covers of U2 songs by African musicians.  They put their own styles, rhythms, and sound to twelve classic U2 songs.  Proceeds from the album go to African aid causes.   The covers of Pride by the Soweto Gospel Choir and Love is Blindness by Waldemar Bastos are especially amazing.

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“Green” Football
My alma mater (Univ of Colorado) and the surrounding city (Boulder, CO) often get a bad rap for the goofiness that goes along with the People’s Republic of Boulder.  Some of it is deserved (such as the funeral for the tree that was cut down because of a road expansion) and some of it is not (the fact that Boulder is amazing in its forward-thinking about environmental causes and healthy living).  So, its not a surprise that Boulder and the Univ of Colorado are trying something that no other college has attempted.

If you have ever seen a stadium after a major sporting event, you know the insane amount of waste that is produced during that time.  Well, CU is attempting to recycle 90% of the waste that is generated at each CU home game this season.

I will be curious how this turns out.  I think its a great idea, but I wonder about things that simply cannot be recycled – dirty diapers for example.  Of course, who in their right mind would bring a diaper wearing infant or toddler to a major college football game?

Anyway, for a University and a football program that has gotten some really bad press in the last few years, its great to see something like this.  Now, the team needs to just get some big wins this season too!

A Few Final Thoughts on The Dark Knight
After thinking more about the film over the last week, I have decided that a second viewing of TDK is not going to happen.  I haven’t changed any of my thoughts about the performances, story, quality of the moviemaking, etc.  The thing I keep getting stuck on is the violence in the film.  The violence in the film is without purpose in any way.  I know there’s the whole thing that is referred to (rather obliquely) in the film about Batman’s code of not killing anyone and how the Joker keeps trying to make Batman break this code.  But the violence brought out by the Joker is just so over the top that it is sadistic.  I know that was the point of the writers to make the Joker a totally sadistic villian.  But the more that I see the sadistic forms of violence that we humans put upon others in real life (Darfur, Bosnia, shootings, wars, etc) the harder and harder time that I am having witnessing fictional sadistic violence in film.

I think there is a place for darkness in film.  There is a place to explore the darker sides of life – the realities of pain, suffering, trial, etc that are a part of life.  Film enables us to enter into places that need exploration, need light to be revealed, and so forth.  In a movie like Hotel Rwanda, one witnesses horrific, sadistic violence that humans have brought upon other humans.  But the difference is that the film is calling us to something different – it is call to action for those who were outside Rwanda at that time and virtually ignored what was taking place (as we continue to do with so much taking place in the world).  What is The Dark Knight calling us to?

Not so sure.

The media as the candidates’ ad servers?

Maybe this is because I have probably paid more attention and been more actively involved in this election than any other in my life, but there is something that seems very new in this 2008 presidential election cycle.  Granted, I live in a state where John McCain could be an alien from Mars and stil get 60% of the vote over Barack Obama and therefore have not seen one presidential campaign television ad, but it seems that the television networks and many of the online news sources seem to become the ad servers for the respective campaigns.  For both Obama and McCain, I have seen stories about the ads that their respective campaigns has put out – either on television or online-exlcusively, without having actually seen the ad in person.

A perfect example are the two recent “controversial” ads from McCain’s campaign – the “celebrity” one and the one that compares Obama to the Antichrist (seriously).  In both cases, they were ads that were shown either in a selective market (celebrity) or online (antichrist).  But in both cases, they made the front page of CNN.com and also on Google’s news page.  So, therefore McCain got national play for what should have amounted to local ads.  I have seen similar examples with Obama’s ads.

Not sure that the networks should be in the business of putting these ads out further than they were intended.  Is it really “news” that McCain’s campaign came up with these ads?  Not so sure.

UDPATE: The NY Times also comments on this much more eloquently than me.

UPDATE 2: CNN does the same with Obama’s new ad…

Modern technology in famous works of art

Being both a tech geek and one who is growing in his appreciation of classical works of art, this photoshop contest on Gizmodo was just brilliant.  There are some brilliant works that people did.

Here’s my favorites

By Rich Lim (posted on front page of above link)

By Michael Renehan

I don’t own a flag pin…I’d be in trouble…

I have alternated between laughing at the silliness and annoyed at the inaneness of the discussion about whether Barack Obama should wear a flag pin.  Does his choice to not wear one make him “un-American” or “un-patriotic”?  Going back to the useless 2 hours that ABC had a few weeks ago that was offically called a “debate” between Senators Obama and Clinton…it was even asked then as if it was still a significant issue in the campaign.  Like the columnist I link to below, I have been watching how many pundits (conservative and liberal and every stripe in between) are not wearing one when they are talking about whether Senator Obama should wear one.  Anyway, in the midst of this silliness, a voice of reason (other than Senator Obama’s) has emerged…

Thank you once again Roland Martin for injecting some much needed sanity into this ridiculous debate.

Make wearing a flag pin the 28th Amendment

Through a Screen Darkly – a Review

Finished Through a Screen Darkly by Jeffrey Overstreet last night. It was easily one of the better film and theology books I have read over the last several years (and I’ve read a lot of them). It ranks up there with Robert Johnson’s Reel Spirituality in the variety of subjects he covers. It is, however, a vastly different book than RS. Reel Spirituality is a great introduction to the concept of experiencing films from a theological perspective. Johnson goes through how to watch a film theologically – from how to approach films with an open mind (that is, how to try to watch films on their own merits instead of trying to immediately fit them into a theological framework) to tools that directors use in putting a film together to examples of specific directors. It is an excellent introduction that I have recommended many times to people thinking along these lines.

Overstreet approaches the task from a much less didactic way (surprise, Johnson is an academic professor, Overstreet is a film critic for ChristianityTodayMovies.com ). His approach is through his experience of film throughout his life. He examines different overarching genres of film and the ways that those genres and specific films have intersected his life at various stages. He does not exclude the theological side of films, but instead (like Johnson recommends) largely allows the films to speak on their own merits. He also does an excellent job of not overly Christianizing film, but does bring his Christian faith and experience to bear on the films both as credit and critique.

It took me a while to warm up to his writing style because I was expecting the didactic examination a la Reel Spirituality. Through the first section, I kept wondering when we’d move out of the foreword / introduction type of writing and into the “real stuff.” I eventually began to truly enjoy the way that he crafted the book and it got me to thinking about my own experiences of film.

I have always been a movie lover to the point that there was consideration in my first year of college about entering CU’s film school (I took a few classes my first year, but stopped at that point). But I have always loved the ways that film transports me to places I might not otherwise have gone – whether its a galaxy far far away or it is entering into the stories of people throughout the world I might not have the chance to meet.

Anyway, it is an excellent read that I highly recommend to anyone interested in this topic.

It did get me thinking as I finished last night about my “transcendent” film experiences. Without going into the details of why each of these films are on the list – each were ones that left me sitting there, as the credits rolled, feeling like I had experienced something I had not before. (in no particular order)

• Star Wars Ep IV: A New Hope
• Heat
• Crash
• American Beauty
• The 39 Steps
• Schindler’s List
• Hotel Rwanda
• Fellowship of the Ring
• Unforgiven
• Gattaca
• The Matrix
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Children of Men
• The Fountain
• Into Great Silence
• Moulin Rouge

Not a bad rendition of the national anthem

A litlte channeling of Henrix going on on Tuesday’s ep of Colbert…

Star Spangled Banner with a little extra flair

(once again, wordpress.com strikes again – can’t embed from comedycentral.com either – I also have no control over the quality of the ad before the clip)

Preaching in the PostModern World – an amazing sermon

One of the beauties of the Internet is that we can be a part of faith communities from afar. We can participate in worship from a distance away. Obviously, it is not the same as being a part of the community in person, but we can get a taste. A few days ago, I blogged about Shane Hipps’ sermon at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI. Today, I must share about another sermon I heard yesterday.

My friend Erin passed along an email from Louisville Seminary about their Greenhoe Lectures from early March. One of the messages was shared by Otis Moss III, the new senior pastor of Trinity UCC in Chicago. The message was entitled “Preaching in a Post-Modern World.” It is a message largely directed to church leaders, but there is a solid message in there for anyone seeking to connect with the larger culture in how God is at work.

I was listening to it in my car throughout the day yesterday and there was one point where I literally had to stop the car, grab pen and paper and write down a segment from the message. He was speaking about how he was initially confronted several years ago with how people were getting caught up in their denominational heritage instead of looking forward to what God was doing…This is at about the 31 minute mark…

…people used such denominational language and I wasn’t used to denominational language…You know we’re UCC or Presbyterian and all these people making such fundamental distinctions. I understand the history piece. But my challenge was this, especially as a person of African descent. My challenge is this – you keep trying to say that it is, that we are UCC, we are Presbyterian, but the fundamental question is “What is our calling?” Not necessarily the denominational history, which is important, but the question is “What is God’s activity?” And if you do not merge God’s activity with your denominational history, then you will end up having doctrine that is faithful but is without love. And whenever you have doctrine that is faithful but without love, it then becomes an ideology that becomes destructive to people that do not fit your framework. And so this is what has happened in many ways. We have become so focused on our history not looking at our calling and the activity of God that we then become exclusive in how God can function.

Ultimately, his point is about what he calls the prophetic contradiction. The prophetic contradiction is how the preacher speaks God’s Word in a world where, on the surface, it doesn’t seem to fit. The prophetic contradiction challenges people about a God of love in the midst of a world of pain.

The sermon is worth a listen, especially any preacher types…Its about 51 minutes long, but it feels like about 10.

Links:
Louisville Seminary Greenhoe Lectures
Sermon MP3

Red Dawn – A blast from the past

I found myself watching Red Dawn a few nights ago. It was spurred on from a Risk (facebook version) game I was playing with some of my buddies. I remember seeing it when it initially came out in 1984 (I guess they didn’t care it was PG-13 when I bought my ticket since I wasn’t even 11 at that time) and I remember thinking of it as a cool war flick that took place in my home state. I had seen it a few times on cable since then and slowly began to see the incredible level of late-era Cold War propaganda throughout the film. Upon watching it a few nights ago, I was struck once again by what I saw.

Before going any further, it must be noted that this it is really not a good film. There are plot holes and common-sense holes that one could drive a Soviet-era tank through (such as how the Soviets could keep up a supply chain from Siberia through the Aleutians and Alaska and down through Canada) and the acting is rather suspect. In some ways, its like the Breakfast Club with guns in that its chock-full of classic 80s actors – Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, C. Thomas Howell, and Powers Booth. It would have been great to have Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall make a few cameos. Anyway…

Back to the propaganda concept. Let’s see…what’s present in the film…

• Immigration Concerns – They note that the way the Cubans initially infiltrated the US was through sneaking over the border posing as workers coming into the US and built up their forces until it was ready to strike.
• Gun Control / Right to Bear Arms – The people who are lifted up as the heroes in the film are the ones who owned guns (and lots of them). The Soviets actually use the lists of people who own guns as the key to who they should round up first. Implication that background checks, etc are a bad thing?
• Macho Old West American Machismo – Again, the heroes are the ones who are depicted as living off the land, not showing any emotion or feelings, etc. Put Clint Eastwood in there and you have a pretty good idea of what’s in the film
• Depiction of the Soviets / Cubans – The Soviets in the film are portrayed at various times as bumbling idiots, rapists, thieves, and unable to fend off a small group of high school students. Two scenes in particular stand out here – one time where a group of three soldiers are ambushed in the mountains as they are bumbling about taking pictures of themselves and another where a group is taken out after they try to catch Jennifer Grey, presumably for more than just taking her to a re-education camp. Speaking of those camps…
• Re-Education Camps – Those who are rounded up by the Americans (mostly men it seemed) were taken to re-education camps where they were shown (seemingly round the clock) films that told of the wasteland that is America and the power and superiority of the Soviet way of life.

Timing wise, this film came out the summer of Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1984 as the Cold War rhetoric was in high-gear at the time.

Twenty-four years later, it is very easy to watch this film and see what a propaganda machine it really was. Of course, films have always been used for this purpose – from Birth of a Nation to Triumph of the Will and up to today. I wonder what we will think 24 years from now about films and television coming out today. Will we watch films like The Siege, The Kingdom, 300, and several seasons of 24 (to name a few) and think similar things?

Anyway, if you find it on some night, check the film out. Its worth a viewing, not necessarily for the quality of the film, but the not-so-subtle messages contained throughout.
(image credit: Cracked.com)

The Connection between Technology and Spirituality

Well, its amazing how things come together timing-wise. I submitted my final version of my Doctor of Ministry thesis on Monday morning. The focus of my project was on how seminaries need to integrate multimedia into their preaching curriculum. Many (if not most) seminaries (at least PCUSA ones) are still training their pastors in the traditional 15-18 minute spoken oral- and text-based sermon. And then pastors are going into many congregations where they are asked to use multimedia as a part of their preaching and many of those extremely well trained preachers find themselves at a loss. How to integrate visual, audio, or other forms of media into the word/text-based exegetical process that we were taught in seminary?

Anyway, I was syncing my nano last night and found that one of the key authors that I referenced in my project, Shane Hipps, was preaching at Mars Hill Church in Michigan whose podcast I download weekly. The title of the sermon was the “Spirituality of the Cellphone.” I just finished listening to the message and cannot recommend it enough to take a listen to. Hipps, while covering some of the same ground as his book, powerfully reflects the ways that the digital age is changing how we experience spirituality and experience one another. He is far from a anti-technologist calling for the abolition of the internet, email, IM, etc, but instead holding up a mirror to how it affects us, often in ways that we do not recognize ourselves.

The ultimate point he makes (spoiler alert) is that the prevalence of digital technology today has a paradoxical effect on how we relate to one another. While the vast and powerful tools of digital technology allow us to be connected to people in a long-distance manner in ways that we could not do so previously, they also often have the opposite effect in how we relate to those who are closest to us. We often employ the same methods of communication in the digital age with those closest to us that we do with those many miles away. Which is easier? To get together f2f with someone or to just call them on the cell phone? What about in the office – easier to just IM someone rather than walk a few offices down to talk to them? I know I am often guilty of this.

Ultimately, the point is that Christianity is a religion of presence. It is a faith based on the idea that God is not some distant deity, but the Word became and lived among us (John 1:14). Christ had a physical ministry of presence and even when he was departing this world, as recorded in Matthew 28, he promised that he would never ultimately leave us.

Anyway, a challenging series of thoughts, at least for me. There are two links to the sermon below. The first is to the itunes store podcasts and the second is the archive page. The sermon is from 3-30-08.

Itunes link to sermon (sorry no direct link on their website)
MarsHill.com Archive

Only a fleshwound!!!

This is just too good to not post…Credit to Gary Brookins of the Richmond Times-Dispatch for this piece of brilliant editorial cartooning…Click image for full-size